Chelsea’s big underperformer could be “best winger in the Premier League” says former Arsenal man | OneFootball

Mykhailo Mudryk was taken off with a concussion substitute in last night’s game, meaning a compulsory 7 day period off playing.

With our final match of the season on Sunday, that means his 2023-2024 is over. What do we make of it? Pretty damn disappointing. Much like his first 6 months at the club. But one person still has faith – Gael Clichy.

The former Arsenal defender has been speaking about the winger, and it seems he is still a believer:

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Mykhailo Mudryk comes out next season and becomes the best winger in the Premier League, because he’s absolutely got all of the attributes which you want in a winger,” Clichy said in quotes picked up by SportsKeeda.

“Why is he not performing now? His club is not performing, maybe he’s not feeling himself, and maybe that will change next season. We all have quick opinions, and it’s very easy to judge when we haven’t got all of the cards in front of us.”

Mauricio Pochettino escorts Mykhailo Mudryk off the pitch.

The Christian Pulisic model

We only wish that we had the same faith. But overall he’s right. If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the years, it’s that players at this very top level can surprise you, even when you’re you can write them off.

Christian Pulisic is perhaps the best example from recent times at Chelsea. He was so average for so long that people were convinced he would never cut it. Then he had an incredible spell of a few months – then went back to being average.

Now he’s in Milan, we hear he’s doing well. It’s just hard to judge how good a player is, let alone how good they could be.

Players with far fewer skills and tools than Mudryk have had great careers in the Premier League, so we’re hardly going to write him off. On the other hand, we’d be lying if we said we had the highest hopes for next year. He’s had plenty of games now, and 18 months to adapt to life in his new home.

There remains some mitigating circumstances, but the effectiveness of those excuses is certainly starting to wear a little thin.